Codelco lifts El Teniente loss estimate, copper output target intact
By Pratima Desai
LONDON (Reuters) – Codelco’s copper losses from the accident at its El Teniente mine are expected to be 45% higher than expected, but Chairman Maximo Pacheco still expects the world’s biggest copper miner to increase production slightly this year.
Lost production at Chile’s El Teniente mine and other disruptions, including at Freeport-McMoRan’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia, have tightened supplies and pushed copper prices to $11,000 a tonne this week, close to last year’s record high.
The July accident at El Teniente, Codelco’s most profitable mine, will reduce its production by 48,000 tonnes this year and cost the company about $500 million in EBITDA.
In an interview on the eve of LME Week, a gathering of the global metals industry in London, Pacheco said Codelco’s production from January to September was 2% higher than the same period last year.
“We continue to believe that in 2025 we should have a slightly higher level of production than last year,” he said.
The state-owned mining company’s copper production for the first nine months of the year was 938,000 tonnes, while Codelco’s forecast for 2025 is 1.34-1.37 million tonnes.
ROCK BURST
Regarding the internal investigation into the El Teniente accident, which is expected to be finalized by the end of the year, the most likely cause was a rock burst due to a change in the geological structure of the deposit, according to Pacheco.
“It was a process of vertical unloading due to geometric changes and interaction of cavities to the northwest of the deposit…weakening the structure and facilitating the downward movement of the material. This means that at depth the rock layers are moving on top of each other,” Pacheco said.
This, he added, means that Codelco must monitor the terrain structure, seismic activity and geomechanical factors throughout the mine, which is made up of 4,500 kilometers of tunnels.
The Andesita unit at the El Teniente complex will remain suspended until the investigation is completed.
ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS
Codelco plans to apply for environmental permits by 2027 for the joint operation of its Andina mine and Anglo American’s neighboring Los Bronces operation, Pacheco said. The companies finalized their deal last month, saying it will save $5 billion.
Pacheco also said Codelco would contribute to discussions on the future of the Teck Resources Quebrada Blanca mine in Chile, where it holds a 10% stake and has two seats on the mine’s board.
Teck aims to combine Quebrada Blanca with the adjacent Collahuasi mine in a proposed merger with Anglo American.
(Reporting by Pratima Desai in London, Daina Beth Solomon and Fabian Cambero in Santiago; editing by Kirsten Donovan)
